Easter Egg Vocaloid Hunt of Doom
by JYAS
Summary: Rin has created a Easter Egg hunt full of melodrama, humor, and scary 'trials' that aren't really scary at all. Len, the amazing sleuth (not really) must unravel the mystery behind it all, all within the course of a single exhausting day with the other Vocaloids, Kaito, Miku, Gumi, Luka, Gakupo (and Meiko). Possibly seen as Rin x Len, others hinted. Rated for (very mild) language.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Vocaloid.**

"I'm sorry, what?" Len asked, eyebrow twitching.

"I _said_, the Easter Egg Vocaloid Hunt of Doom! Weren't you listening?!"

"Of course I was, I just couldn't comprehend something so idiotic."

"A-Anyway, Rin-chan," Miku interrupted, hoping to preclude an awful fight, "What _were _you planning for today?"

Rin brought herself up to her full height (which wasn't very tall, though still taller than Len), and said proudly, "I've got a dangerous and consequently awesome scavenger hunt all set up for today, and you're all my victims!"

The response she got was slightly lackluster; Luka flipped another page of her book, unconcerned; Gakupo didn't know what face to make, so he just stared at the wall; Meiko had passed out drunk a few minutes ago; Len snorted. The silence was broken only by a sleepy meow from their cat, Neko-chama.

"Well?!" Rin snapped, peeved by the lack of appreciating applause. "_Anything_?!"

"But Rin-chan, we don't know what this hunt is about yet," Kaito pointed out timidly.

"No matter how hard you market it, it doesn't work if you don't explain," Gumi added.

With even Gumi against her, Rin accepted defeat. "Fine, I'll explain for all of you slowpokes." The direction of her accusing glare was, inexplicably, directed at Len. "The Easter Egg Vocaloid Hunt of Doom, or the EEVHD for short, is a cunning Easter celebration plot designed by moi." She bowed, to nonexistent applause. "I have hidden a total of 10 easter eggs within this house; whoever finds the winning one is the winner!"

"How do you figure that," Len mumbled sarcastically, not even bothering to comment on the unnatural acronym.

"_Anyway_, if certain impatient and unknowledgable members of the audience will keep their questions to the end, there is only one winning easter egg amongst the lot. The other 9 hold various other trials. The one who can brave all of these and find the one lucky one is the best Vocaloid around!"

"So what's the prize?" Gumi asked.

"Glory!" Rin announced, pumping a fist in the air.

"That's just stupid," Meiko slurred, having half-woken up. She promptly passed out again.

"Rin-dono, what might these 'trials' as you called them consist of?" Gakupo asked.

"That's something you'll find out."

"And how do we know if we have the winning egg?" Miku asked.

"That's also something you'll see."

"How do we know that this isn't all just another one of your schemes?" Len asked.

"Oh, dear Lenny, of _course _it's another one of my schemes."

"Rin-chan, this seems a little dangerous..." Kaito piped up.

"Agreed," Luka seconded.

Rin had had enough; when things didn't go her way, the world became a scary, scary place. "Fine. It's either the EEVJD or Russian Roulette!"

"We'll do it!" The Vocaloids chorused - all except for Len, who was rolling his eyes and saying, "It's 'EEVHD. Did you really forget your own acronym?"

And thus was the Easter Egg Vocaloid Hunt of Doom commenced. Rin broke everyone up into teams of two. The method by which she decided these things was, apparently, by pulling straws.

"If you try anything, pervert, you're dead," Luka deadpanned, giving Gakupo a glare over her marked stick.

"Gumi-chan, Gumi-chan! Let's win, okay?" Miku sung, glomping her friend tightly. That left...

"Was this really a game of chance?" Len asked dryly, regarding his blue-haired partner without much enthusiasm. Just his luck; any time Rin was in charge of a game of 'chance,' Len ended up the most unhappy of the lot. Now, it wasn't like he didn't _like _his onii-san. It was just that, out of everyone, Kaito was the least qualified for any kind of 'trial,' so long as it wasn't binging on ice cream.

"I will have no complaints!" Rin announced, pointing a finger at Len and completely ignoring Luka's disdain. "You have 24 hours to find the winning egg, go!"

"Idiot, there isn't even 15 hours left in today," Len muttered, before heading off towards the kitchen. Wouldn't it be just like Rin to hide the most eggs where she could snack along the way?

"Let's go to your room, Gumi-chan!" Miku suggested excitedly, practically dragging the other green-haired Vocaloid behind her.

"..." Luka and Gakupo seemed to be having a silent staring match. Eventually, Luka won, and they set off towards the library.

After everyone had left, Rin cackled evilly to herself. "Ah, Daughter of Evil, thou art a genius!" She frowned. "And it's a good thing Len isn't around, or he wouldn't let me live that down."

* * *

**Take One: Kaito and Len**

The kitchen. It could be described in a variety of ways - most accurately, as the home of many unidentified, possibly hostile, and certainly undocumented life forms that may or may not have been various shades of _green_. But that was only if you opened the refrigerator, which Len had no intention of doing, so he thought he'd be fine.

"Want to get some ice cream, Len-kun?"

Or not.

"No thanks, Kaito-nii," replied the blond as kindly as he could while that hand edged ever closer to the handle of the cooling unit. It hadn't even been five minutes, and he was already exhausted. "Look, how about you just search that end of the room - and _don't_ touch anything."

Kaito obeyed, taking the safer side of the large room. He checked the top of the table (which was a sight to behold in and of itself - the world's sixth ocean), then the floor. He found nothing, but that was to be expected of the bluenette.

Len checked around the counters, inside of cabinets, and even in cereal boxes. Similar luck. Was Rin really going to make this a hard search? _If there are only 10 in such a large house, we should be lucky if we even find_ one_..._ He sighed.

After a few more minutes, Len's hope ran out. "I don't think we'll find any in here. Let's call it quits."

Kaito nodded, deflating. Len internally rolled his eyes. Did his optimistic onii-san really think it'd be so easy? (Well, Len had thought it would be, too) Then the bluenette brightened. "Well, how about we have a snack before continuing? I'm starving!"

_Of course. _Len blinked at the irritation in his own thoughts. Why was he taking this so seriously? It was just another one of Rin's stupid ideas, and he wouldn't even get anything if he won. "Fine, why not?" He watched Kaito jump for joy before rushing off to the freezer for his precious ice cream.

Len didn't want anything like that, though, especially since it was still so cold out. Instead, he opted for his favorite treat: a banana. Years ago, Rin had told him that bananas would let him grow up big and strong like Gakupo, and, still being naive at the time, he believed her. Since then, he's loved the fruit just by habit.

"Eh?" When he went over to the bunch that the family always kept for his cravings, he saw one solid yellow easter egg. "No way..." Bananas forgotten, he snatched up the egg and examined it. It _felt _really light, so maybe it was the winner? "Hey, Kaito-nii, I found an egg!"

The bluenette looked up, spoon hovering inches from his mouth, eyes lighting on the bright yellow piece of plastic. "Oh, wow! You're amazing, Len-kun! What's in it?"

"Dunno," Len replied, eyes narrowing. Why would Rin put the egg among the bananas, where _Len _was sure to find them? _No way... _"We won't know until we open it, anyway." He carefully cracked the egg open. Immediately, a loud bang resounded through the room, and Kaito stumbled backwards.

"Ehhh!" He started, shaking. Then he blinked. "Len-kun? Len-kun?"

The blond was blinking, eyes blank. Then, slowly, he brought a hand up to one ear. Likely because it was ringing like every phone ever made. Then his hand travelled up his hair, where he clasped a long, plastic string. He brought it down to the front of his face for inspection. "Confetti," he declared plainly. "Streamers."

"They're yellow," Kaito noted for no particular reason. "And there's a note card there. What's it say?"

Len wasn't particularly eager to know, and was going to be perfectly happy to ignore it. But since Kaito had pointed it out, he had no choice but to open the message. He knew he wouldn't like it. Written in Rin's scrawly handwriting was...

Ha ha! No snacks for you, you glutton! Better luck next time, and no snacking.  
\- The EEVCD Director

"EEVHD," Len muttered, though Rin wasn't there to hear the correction. "This wasn't the right one, I guess." _Wow, now you're turning into Kaito, captain obvious. _"Let's keep looking."

"Ah...does that mean I don't get to finish my ice cream?" Kaito called weakly, but Len ignored him. Kaito reluctantly set down the cup of Haagen Daz, looking up to the sky (or ceiling) and sighing. "Oh, dear god in heaven, _why_...eh?" He blinked, not sure if what he saw was real.

"What's _taking _you, i-_Kaito_?!" Len's eyes widened. "What are you doing up there?! You could get hurt!"

Kaito smiled down from his place above the dining room table, hanging off the chandelier. "But I found an _egg_, Len-k-" Before he could even finish his sentence, a loud 'snap' was heard, and Kaito fell towards the Earth at the speed of gravity. "Wah!"

"Kaito!" Len yelped, wincing at the sound of crashing metal. "Oh my god, Kaito, are you all right?"

"Ow..." the bluenette moaned, rubbing the back of his head, which had collided with the floor. "Yeah, it's okay, Len-kun; I got the egg, see?" He held up the plastic easter egg as if it was a trophy.

"I didn't ask if the egg was all right..." Len muttered, but brushed it off. Kaito got beat up so often by Meiko, his head _had _to be thick as cement or he would've been dead already. Or maybe he would have stopped angering her. But now that the Vocaloid's safety was confirmed, Len surveyed the rest of the damage, and it didn't look good. "The chandelier _and _the table, nii-san? How did you manage to take _both_ of them with you and _not_ break any bones?"

"Er...I don't know," confessed the bluenette truthfully, taking Len's hand as the blond pulled him to his feet. "But as long as we got the egg, it doesn't matter, right?"

Len would have protested, but he decided against it. Still, looking at the plastic egg... he couldn't help noticing it was blue. Like Rin knew that Kaito would be the one to grab it. Even though sending Len (who was, admittedly, lighter) up there would have been the smarter move. _Just coincidence, I'm sure._ "Let's see what's inside it and get this over with."

He popped the egg open, and _shrieked_. Kaito flinched at the scream (it was comparable to the one from Len's cover of _Love is War_), unsure of how to help. "W-What's wrong, Len-kun?"

"C-Cricket!" Len choked, running to the other side of the room. "It's a cricket!"

Kaito blinked. "Yes? What, do you think Rin-chan might have done something to it?"

The blond shook his head rapidly. "S-she doesn't have to! Just kill that 6-legged abomination!"

Kaito frowned. "Kill it? That's not very nice, Len-kun." He carefully scooped up the insect into his hands, and opened the front door. Once it was outside, he smiled, closed the door again, and looked back at his partner. "You don't like insects, Len-kun?"

"N-Not at all. Stupid Rin!" He knew he looked like a little kid. Did Rin design this entire test to torture him? Likely.

"There's another note in here." _Oh. Joy. _"I guess I'll read it?" On the note was written, in similar handwriting to the last one:

It was in the sink. If anyone asks, that's where the egg was, okay? So better luck next time and never forget that the mighty EEVTD will always be able to see you, no matter how high you climb!  
Not that there was anywhere you had to climb.  
\- The EEVPD Director

"How can she get her _own _acronym wrong _twice_, on the same card, for crying out loud?" Len sighed, deciding that it was futile. "Let's go, Kaito-nii. Especially before anyone sees this mess you made." He only prayed that no one else was doing as much damage as they were, at least not in his room.

* * *

**Take Two: Gumi and Miku**

"Oh my gosh, that was scary!" Miku laughed, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Rin-chan certainly is creative," Gumi agreed, gently setting down the smoking, fluorescent green easter egg. "I guess that was what she meant by 'trials' in the eggs, huh?"

Miku gasped. "You don't think any of them will suck us into a video game, will it?" She asked nervously.

Gumi smiled. "No, I don't think even Rin-chan could do that. You've been reading too much manga."

"You can never read too much manga!"

"Maybe so, but I don't think we'll find any other eggs in my room. How about we try somewhere else?"

"Ooh, ooh! Can we do Master's study?" The diva clapped her hands together in a pleading gesture.

"I don't see why not..." Gumi conceded. Even if she was going to put an honest effort forth, she didn't really care too much about the competition, so there wasn't any harm in letting Miku search where she wanted to.

They headed out of the room, walked downstairs, and down the hall, at the very end of which was the study of their master slash manager. Only he could have the final word on whether or not they signed contracts with music producers. Miku looked up to him as more than her creator, and so often took whatever chance she could to talk to him.

"Looks like he's not here," Gumi pronounced upon entry. There was no sign that Master was in right then, other than a very cold coffee. "Hasn't been here for a few hours."

Miku noticeably sagged. "Aw..." But ever the optimist, she recovered. "I guess we'll have more time to search this way!"

"Right. It'd be bad if we were bothering him," Gumi agreed, "so we better get to work."

They looked on the desk, underneath the desk, next to the speakers, behind the guitars, around the drums, inside of the closet, hidden on the ceiling fan...nothing.

"Maybe she just didn't think about here?" Gumi suggested, but Miku, determined as she was, wouldn't have it.

"No, I know Rin-chan! There's no way she'd ignore this room."

"But Miku-chan...couldn't Master have been in while Rin-chan was hiding them, so she just didn't get the chance?"

"I don't believe it!"

"Okay..."

Miku sighed, running a hand over the desk. A smile tugged at her lips, even through the fatigue. "You know, this place holds a lot of memories for me... actually, for all of us, huh? I can still remember when I first sung _World is Mine_ here..."

"Oh all of us can," Gumi agreed with a small chuckle. "You really shocked everyone with how loud your scream was."

"I forgot about that. Sorry." The diva gave an apologetic giggle, running onto the stage. "I stood right behind here and the music was playing... it was my first time, so I was so nervou-eh?" She blinked, face spreading into a blinding smile. "Gumi-chan, Gumi-chan, I found an egg, look! Right here, in the microphone stand!" She plucked the turquoise-colored egg from the place where the microphone was supposed to be, then waved it around happily.

"I can't believe we didn't notice," Gumi admitted. "I guess you open it, then."

"Okay!" Miku broke it in half, and found that a tremendous 'pop' left her ears ringing. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"What?!" Gumi yelled, clutching both ears. Miku couldn't hear her.

Once the horrible pain and deafness moved past, Miku picked up the dropped egg and opened the little note. It said this:

That was how all of our ears felt when you screamed so loud. Have a taste of your own medicine now!  
But I suppose that you survived the challenge, so here's a clue: you won't find the winning egg in any of the places that you're looking.  
\- The EEVFD Director

"So this wasn't the winning egg, either," Gumi commented obviously, feeling just a little disappointed.

"Hey, Gumi-chan, how do you think Rin-chan knows that the egg won't be any of the places that we look?" Miku asked, eyes glinting with the excitement of a mystery. She really tried to enjoy everything. "And if it isn't in any of the places that we'll look, then we'll have to look somewhere we wouldn't think to look!"

"That would be impossible," the green-haired girl pointed out. "Because then you'd be thinking of that place to go, and we would still be falling into the same trap."

"Then all we have to do is come up with somewhere so ridiculous that no one would look there!" Miku replied, undeterred. "But where would that be? Luka-nee and Gaku-san already looked at the library, and Kaito-kun and Len-kun went to the kitchen, I heard... Oh! I know! Let's look in the garden!"

"Isn't that outside the house?"

"It's somewhere nobody would look!"

"That's true, but..."

"And the flowers are really pretty today, come on!"

"Well, if you insist."

* * *

**Take Three: Gakupo and Luka**

"Um, if I may have a moment, Luka-dono..." Gakupo began uncertainly. Luka looked up at him. "Please do not think me rude, but I must wonder why I am the only one looking..."

"I don't see a problem with it," Luka replied shortly, returning her eyes to her pages and recrossing her legs. "I can survey the room better from here, anyway."

"But, Luka-dono," Gakupo protested weakly, quietly, "You can't survey the room if all of your attention is focused on that book..."

Luka flipped the page, either pretending or really not listening. Gakupo couldn't tell which.

The samurai sighed to himself, getting up from his place on the floor (he had been looking underneath the bookshelves) and moving upward. "At the very least, L-"

"What did you say?" asked the lady demonically.

"I meant, would you be so kind as to please at l-I mean, recommend a particular bookshelf to look through?"

"..." She seemed to actually consider this. Then, she pointed to the shelves diagonally behind her, ones which were packed full of...

"Textbooks?" the purple-haired man wondered, flipping through pages of the biology book in his hands. It wasn't exactly the most thrilling. Was this what Luka was reading all the time? Anyway, his eyes spotted a history book blandly titled, _The Meiji Restoration_, and, being a samurai, he took a look at it.

As soon as he pulled the book out, a small, lavender egg tumbled gently out and onto the floor. Gakupo, heart picking up somewhat, regarded it happily.

"You found one?" Luka asked, eyes not straying, even though Gakupo was behind her and had been rather silent. "Open it, then."

Gakupo did. Out tumbled a...snake. Not a real one, but rather one that seemed like it should have come with a string that you can lead it around with "_This _is the trial Rin-dono was talking about?" He stepped over it, planning to tell Luka they were done with the room, but his foot caught on something and he went tumbling to the ground, narrowly missing the soft couch, beside her. "Ow!"

Luka glared spears of ice down at him. "What a pervert," she declared, shifting and pulling down her skirt slightly. Gakupo was about to open his mouth in defence, but he was cut off by a scream. "S-sn..."

"Snail?" Gakupo suggested to the stricken Luka.

"No, _snake_!" Luka said, a few octaves higher (she could have rivaled Miku), crowding herself into the corner of the couch. "There's a _snake _on the ground!"

Gakupo looked down. Ah, so _that _was what he had tripped over. The snake had, indeed, come with a transparent string to lead it around with, and Gakupo's movements were making it seem alive. _I guess this is Luka-dono's trial._ "Calm down, please, Luka-dono. It is nothing but a toy, see-"

"Don't bring that monstrosity closer to me!" Luka snapped, and brought her fist down on the confused samurai's head. She then proceeded to beat the poor man, ignoring all of his attempts at explanation.

_Ah. So this is my trial._

* * *

**Take Four: A Meeting of Two Groups, Part 1**

"Where do you think we should look next, Len-kun?"

"The TV room sounds like our best bet. Rin likes to distract herself in the middle of what she's doing. All the time."

"Oh."

They continued down the hallway, until two other, higher pitched voices could be heard. "And that's why we have to go outside! It's for Spring, Gumi-chan!"

"I...see."

Len blinked. "Miku-nee? Gumi-san? What are you guys doing?"

Miku stopped and looked at them from her place halfway out the window. "Len-kun!" Her eyes moved over and she beamed. "Kaito-kun! What are you doing here?"

"I was just asking _you _that," Len asked with a slight tilt of his head. "Why are you climbing out the window?"

"Are you not doing the treasure hunt anymore?" Kaito asked.

Miku was just laughing as she tried to get her head back inside, so Gumi took over. "We were going to look in the garden to see if we could find more eggs there."

"The garden? Why would you pick a place like that?" Len wondered. _Rin doesn't like getting herself dirty._

"Well, you see," the diva began, finally succeeding in being fully inside the house, "Rin-chan left a note in the easter egg from the recording studio, and she said that we couldn't win if we looked in any of the normal places, so we thought we'd come outside and look at the flowers!"

"What Miku-chan means to say," Gumi repeated, "is that we found this note in one of the eggs." She held out the poorly cut piece of paper, which Len took and examined. "We figured that a place nobody would look would be outside."

Len frowned. "I guess that makes sense. Hey, those eggs in your hand..."

"Oh, these?" Gumi held up the two eggs: one grass-green, one turquoise. "They're all that we've found."

"Then you have the same number as us!" Kaito said with a smile, holding up one blue egg and one yellow one. He grinned down at his partner. "That's good, right, Len-kun? I thought we might be behind!"

Miku giggled. "I don't know, Kaito-kun; I bet Len-kun's going to win this whole thing!"

Len raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

The two girls both shifted uncomfortably, like they didn't understand the question. "Well...because this is Rin-chan's event, right?"

"What?"

"N-Never mind!" Miku laughed again, this time sounding forced. "Anyway, did you find anything interesting?"

Kaito thought about this. "Well, we broke the ta-"

"Nothing!" Len cut him off loudly, earning him three sets of confused looks. "We didn't get any clues at all in either of our eggs. Guess you got lucky."

Gumi didn't seem as enthusiastic. "Maybe we did, even if the clue _was _really vague. Thanks for the information, Len-kun."

"Don't mention it."

Technically, it wasn't the blond who had spilled the information - it was Kaito - but the bluenette wasn't taking credit. "Now what, Len-kun?"

"Well, they started out in their room and then went to Master's office, so I don't think we need to look in either of those places. Still," he added, frowning. "That note was weird."

"Yeah. Rin-chan seems to know everything, doesn't she?"

"Uh huh. Well, anyway, we might as well go check out the TV room as planned. I doubt we'll find anything there, though."

"Ah hah!" The cry of triumph came from outside the window. "Score! Now let's just open i- eek! Gumi-chan, help! Help!" There was a clatter that sounded like a bunch of gardening utensils falling over. It masked out the next lines of conversation. "Thank you so much, Gumi-chan. Let's see what the note says! ...Aw, so this isn't the right place _either_?!"

"It looks like they aren't having any luck," Kaito noted, both males continuing down the hall.

"Not much." _Still, I'm amazed that Rin even went into the mud. Although, he thought to himself, judging by how quickly they found the egg, it must not have been well hidden. Almost like she's baiting us..._

"Was that really necessary, Luka-dono?"

* * *

**Take Five: A Meeting of Two Groups, Part 2**

"Of course it was necessary. Punishing a pervert is only the right thing to do."

Len's face was twitching into a disbelieving smile. He had seen Luka 'punish' Gakupo before, but it had never been this bad. He planned to turn around quietly and go the other way before he was seen.

"Ah, Luka-san, Gakupo-san!" Kaito said cheerfully, making Len choke on his own breath. "Are you looking around here, too?"

Gakupo noticed them and smiled gently with his purpling eyes. "Ah, Kaito-kun, Len-dono. To think our paths would cross so soon."

"What did you do this time, Gaku-nii?" Len asked, a cross between sympathetic and skeptical. The one at fault for the samurai's state tended to slosh back and forth.

"It seems that my attempts to quell Luka-dono's fear of a toy snake made her mistakenly believe me to be a pervert..."

"That's because you _are_," Luka pointed out, huffing. "And I am not afraid of snakes; it is simply rational to put as great a distance as possible between oneself and a potentially lethal creature."

"You mean you're scared of snakes," Gakupo muttered under his breath, but one glare from the pink-haired bookworm was enough to silence him.

"Anyway, Len-kun, Kaito-san: what luck have you had?" Her tone was gentler with the non-Gakupo members of the group, though her previous embarrassment didn't seem to help her mood.

"We've done the kitchen," Kaito explained, "so we're going to the TV room."

Luka nodded. "Have you found any eggs?"

"Two of them. But neither were what we were looking for."

This seemed to make her even more sour. Gakupo saw this, and took over. "You have tremendous luck; though Luka-dono and myself have looked at four different places, we have found only one egg."

Len blinked. "_Four _different places? Where?"

"The library, the bathroom, the second recording studio, and the living room we were first in. Unfortunately, only the library had an egg, and that was located behind a book on the Meiji revolution. Rin-dono did an excellent job at hiding these things."

"Didn't she?" Kaito agreed. "But, Gakupo-san, did you find a note inside?"

Luka nodded. "Yeah. Are these in all of them?" She held it out for them to see.

You can keep the snake if you like, I don't care, but I don't think you'll want to. You might scare someone again.

Here's a clue, since you found this one: there are no other eggs in this room. So go elsewhere!

The EEFHD Director

"Huh. So this note contained advice, too, Len-kun. Do you think that ours might, also, but we just didn't see it?"

_That's actually a pretty good idea_, Len conceded, showing the other two their messages. "I can't see any hidden meaning in them," Gakupo admitted. Luka shook her head. Len put them away.

"Well, thanks for the heads-up, and good luck," Len said. Kaito beamed at them by way of goodbye, and the two groups went their separate ways.

On their way to the TV room, Len and Kaito heard a confused voice ask: "Miku-chan? What are you doing covered in mud?"

* * *

**The Remains**

Gumi and Miku had found another egg behind the curtain in Meiko's room; Luka and Gakupo had searched Gakupo's room and found that he had an egg hidden under the covers of his bed. "When did she do that?" the samurai had to wonder.

Len and Kaito found yet another egg in the TV room, right behind the TV, in the middle of a tangle of wires. Each came with a message and an annoyance. Len refused to call them 'trials,' because they were so silly.

In the end, the three groups met in the living room to consolidate their finds and look over the messages. Miku was too depressed to smile; Gumi had the same indifference she had when she began, albeit with more mud; Kaito was blinking blankly into space, indicating he was tired; Luka had been in a foul mood ever since finding out she was in the same group as Gakupo, and Gakupo was glancing over at her every few seconds to make sure she wouldn't add another bruise to his battered body.

Only Len was glaring down at the group of eggs and crumpled messages with conviction. "It doesn't make sense," he murmured. "We've checked almost everywhere - certainly everywhere that made sense. What are we missing?"

Luka was looking back at her book, while Gakupo made a noncommittal sound. Gumi noted the time on the clock: 5 pm, indicating that they should really start dinner soon. They had all skipped lunch. Miku just placed her head on the table. The gentle sound of Meiko's snoring lapsed the silence.

"Maybe we should just stop?" Gumi suggested. Meiko's snoring reached a peak, momentarily waking her enough to cause her to shift positions. "We've looked everywhere, so we might as well call it quits."

"Wouldn't it be just like Rin-dono to not have a 10th egg after all?" Gakupo muttered, almost under his breath. Len's fists clenched against the table.

"Actually," Kaito spoke up, "There is one place none of us have checked..." The blond's eyes widened.

"Where's that, Kaito-kun?" asked Miku, perking up.

"Ah, that's-" but the bluenette didn't get to reveal the answer because Len grabbed his hand and ran right out of the room with him.

A silence followed. None of them appreciated being roused from their half-asleep state just to be ignored, but eventually, Luka just returned to her ever-interesting book, Gakupo to trying to read its title, Gumi to watching the clock count the seconds, Miku to her previous confusion, and Meiko to her nap. Where Len and Kaito had gone, they wouldn't know until later.

* * *

**The Finale**

On the other side of the telling yellow door sat Rin, cross-legged, smiling haughtily, a manga discarded at her side. Neko-chama yawned beside her feet and curled up on herself more. "I see that you've figured it out, dear Lenny," she said in what she probably assumed was the lilting voice of an arrogant, villainous mastermind. "So do please let me know what the results of your expert sleuthing were."

Len coughed into his hand, obviously going along with this grand act the other blond was putting on. "It wasn't that hard to figure out. After all, you knew this would be the result from the start, didn't you?"

"Mm hm. What clued you in?"

"The colored eggs, for one. All of the eggs the others showed me were the same color as the one who found it. Even the egg in the chandelier was blue, as if you knew that Kaito-nii would get it himself."

"Of course. After all, nii-san has always been so eager to be the proper older brother figure, there was no way he'd ask you to get the egg. And even if you had been the one to spot it, he would have rushed up there while you were planning an overcautious operation to get it. Kaito-nii's predictable, more so than all the others."

"And Luka-nee's love of books would send her to the library first, but she would get Gaku-nii to do all the work because she's been so absorbed in that book recently, that Kaito-nii's even has to do all the cooking."

"Yup. And Gumi-chan is so laidback, she'd probably go wherever Miku-chan wanted to, so they'd first go to their room, because Miku-chan just wants to play. Then they'd go to the recording studio because Miku-chan loves to sing more than any of us and loves Master to death for some unknown reason. But when they saw the clue, they'd try the garden."

"_How _could you have figured that last one?"

Rin shrugged. "Miku-chan's been asking me to join her for flower viewing for days. Gumi-chan's been too busy to take my place." She sighed. "Everyone in this house is so darn _predictable_, I had to have my fun somehow."

"But that's where the real question comes in." Maybe they were being too melodramatic? "Why did you want me to win?"

Rin's casual grin widened. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. You knew where each of us would search, but you gave me the advantage by putting two eggs in the first room we checked, rather than one like all the others. And you sent Miku-nee and Gumi-san on a wild goose chase through the garden. And Luka-nee and Gaku-nii searched three rooms without finding anything. You wanted Kaito-nii and me to realize that the last egg wasn't there - even faster than the rest."

She laughed. "You have a good line of reasoning there. But what motivation could I have, detective? If you can't puzzle that, then all of this comes to naught!"

Len knew this. But he didn't have the answer. Why could Rin have given him the advantage? And on top of that, there was one thing he couldn't account for. If her goal really was to make him win, then why did she give hints to the other two groups, but not theirs? And why wouldn't she have just made one of the eggs she was _sure_ was theirs the winning one? And how did the last egg play into this? "You wanted me to win, but you also wanted me to prove myself. You gave me an advantage, but only one that I could use if I used my head." _Funny, because she almost never uses hers. I guess it's easier to make problems than solve them._

"You're completely right. After all, my other half has to be worthy of me. But then that leaves the final mystery: where is the last egg?"

He didn't speak.

"Oh, come on. You couldn't have confronted me without having the answer, could you? And you better understand already that I'll give you only one chance. So come on, what's the answer?"

Kaito shifted in the silence. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, or when Len had noticed any of this, or what the question even was now, but he knew that it was something important. Maybe he needed to be supportive right now? Or maybe he would only mess it up.

Oh, if only Miku were here. She had his upbeat personality, but things worked out for her. Unlike him. He had always looked up to that. Or maybe Luka's calmness. She was so mature, she wouldn't get nervous and lose the ability to think like he did. Or even Gakupo, with his infinite wisdom. And Gumi would be at least comforting. What would Meiko do? Um...scare people into being able to solve the problem faster? Provide motivation? That's what she always seemed to do with Kaito, anyway...

"You're the last egg," Len realized, breaking the bluenette's thoughts. The boy was currently pointing at Rin with masked uncertainty.

Rin smirked deviously. "Are you sure, Lenny? That's your final theory?"

"You've got to be. You said in your clue to Miku-nee and Gumi-san that the winning egg wouldn't be anywhere they'd look. You meant them in particular: you knew they would be the ones to find it, and that I'd ask you eventually. Besides, you're just the sort of self-centered person to make yourself the prize, even when it makes no sense."

Rin pouted. "Wow, don't pull your punches on me. This is why you're so easy to anticipate: you just assume the worst in me." She sounded deeply hurt. "You're wrong. You've _failed _the test. You can't win now."

Kaito looked at his partner, wondering what Len's reaction might be. The boy may have been picked on a lot by Rin and sometimes Miku and even Gumi or Meiko or Gakupo sometimes, but he wasn't the type to fail anything, because he wasn't the type to try anything he was likely to fail. So, to have been told outright that he had gotten it wrong...well, Len wasn't taking it well, let's say.

"What do you _mean_, that's not it?! We've searched everywhere in the house!"

"Not everywhere," Rin countered causally, beckoning to Neko-chama and letting the cat curl up in her lap. "I'm sure that you didn't look in every crevice. Stop being a sore loser already and accept it."

Len bit his lip. Kaito hesitantly reached out a hand towards his shoulder, then held it back. Len would probably just snap at him anyway. But he looked so sad...no, being snapped at was worth it. Maybe it was something Kaito had done that made Len come to the wrong conclusion. It always seemed to be the bluenette's fault whenever something bad happened. "I'm...sorry, Len-kun."

Rin's body tensed as she watched her 'other half' hold tears back by force of will. She watched him tense, almost like looking in a mirror, as Kaito's hand came in contact with his shoulder. Neko-chama yawned lazily on her lap, seeming oblivious to the suffocating pressure in the room.

Eventually, the girl bit the inside of her lip and crossed her arms. "W-well, to be honest, I was originally planning for the final egg to be me...but I thought you wouldn't get something that insane, so I didn't do it. But that makes you sort of half right, so I guess I'll give you the answer if you answer this question right."

It didn't have as much of an effect as she would have liked, but Len did nod his assent.

"It's not like it's hard, Mr. Showoff." It didn't hold the same biting that her comments usually did. "What's the acronym of the name of today's event?"

Could the room be this silent?

Apparently so.

Neko-chama did not yawn.

Len did not move.

Rin began to falter. Hadn't Len been the one correcting her on _her _acronym? She thought that _that_, at least, would cement it into his head. And after all, it stood for something that made a lot of sense.

To be honest, Rin wanted him to win. She really wanted him to win, because she wanted to make him feel happy. He had been a little more annoyed, a little more down, recently, and she wanted to fix that. But this was all backfiring horribly now, and maybe she hadn't planned as well as she thought? But she was always able to depend on him in the past...

Len still couldn't answer. Had he truly forgotten?

"EE...VH...D."

Rin blinked.

"The Easter Egg Vocaloid Hunt of Doom."

Neko-chama stretched.

"Isn't that what the answer is?"

Len blinked.

"Er...Len-kun? Rin-chan? Am I wrong?" Kaito fiddled with the end of his scarf nervously. "I was sure that I was right, though..."

Rin finally exhaled, struggling with the words. "Y-yeah. You got it perfectly."

"Then, since Len is my partner, didn't he get it right, too?"

Rin thought about this. "Yes, I suppose he has." Len seemed too preoccupied with staring at Kaito like he'd grown a second head. "Well, I guess I have to tell you the answer now. Neko-chama is the final egg. See?" She lifted up the cat (much to the cat's reluctance), showing off the small, orange egg tapped onto her collar. "That means you've won."

* * *

**Epilogue**

It wasn't quite what Rin had in mind. She _had _wanted to watch everyone run around, and she _was_ hoping to take Len down a few pegs, but she hadn't expected that things would go quite so...exhaustingly. She would need a lot of time alone with her anime - or out shopping with Miku, with Len as their victim. Flower-viewing didn't seem too bad.

"Who's responsible for this mess?!" Meiko screamed, gesturing to the combination chandelier shrapnel and dining table splinters that _used_ to make up their beautiful dining room. "I bet it was you, wasn't it?!"

Kaito yelped, unable to deny it. Usually, these things weren't his fault - not that that made it much better, but at least it provided his soul some small comfort. This time, however...

"It was Rin's fault," Len explained calmly.

"What was that, midget?!"

"During the easter egg hunt. One of the eggs was put in the chandelier."

Rin protested. "That's not true! Prove it!" She snatched the note out of the easter egg, still laying on the counter, and thrust it at their drunk onee-chan. "See?"

It was in the sink. If anyone asks, that's where the egg was, okay? So better luck next time and never forget that the mighty EEVTD will always be able to see you, no matter how high you climb!  
Not that there was anywhere you had to climb.  
\- The EEVPD Director

After Meiko had read this, she glared at Kaito. "Rin-chan didn't do it, so it must have been you! Get back here!"

Len and Miku looked sympathetically after the poor bluenette as he was chased out the room; the rest of the group continued eating. Luka, having finished her book, was in a much,_ much_ better mood; Gakupo, for Luka having finished her book, was _also_ in a much better mood. Rin, unburdened of the guilt of sending the lamb off for slaughter, was talking amiably with Gumi about their next shopping trip. Once Meiko and Kaito, minimally wounded, returned to the world of humanoid androids, they seemed to simultaneously straighten up.

"So," Miku began, "how _did _things turn out in the end? We never got to hear the whole story."

Rin and Len exchanged glances, eventually ending with the female blonde giving an awkward cough and standing up. "Well, it was a close match, but in the end, the winner of the whole thing was...

"Kaito-niisan."

"Ehhh?!" came the collective reply of wonder. Six pairs of eyes - Miku's, Gumi's, Luka's, Gakupo's, Meiko's, and Kaito's - widened. "Really?"

"I thought for sure Len-kun would win!" Miku protested.

Len crossed his arms and turned to the bluenette. "Why are you surprised?"

Luka nodded, smile tugging at her perpetually frowning lips. "I guess I can see it. Kaito-san has his strengths, especially under pressure."

There was a collective cheer in the name of the often under-appreciated, ice cream obsessed, scarf-wearing, blue-haired Vocaloid, whose face was steadily reddening from embarrassment. Rin didn't join in, instead taking Len's hand in hers. "Are you disappointed?"

Len let a rare pout come over his face. "Not really," he replied shortly, turning away. "I didn't earn it, so I can't take the credit for it. Besides, Kaito-nii _was _the one that broke the chandelier for that egg."

"Uh huh. Whatever. Let's just go shopping tomorrow, okay?"

It was an eventful Easter, and Rin got everything she wanted. Even with the few hiccups, the hand in hers was enough.


End file.
